


No Good Unless Real

by beriallen



Category: Korean Actor RPF, Running Man RPF
Genre: F/M, Monday Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:23:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3242870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beriallen/pseuds/beriallen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From his place, hers, the empty house, that room in Australia; if there’s one thing Gary learns from all the nights he’s spent with Ji Hyo is to manage his expectations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Good Unless Real

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. This happens because there's _that_ picture, I guess. Because there's a CF. Because Gary sincerely asked her to date him (for a month). Because Ji Hyo mentioned something about "good news."
> 
> 2\. Inspired by a certain tinhat theory, which I may or may not believe.
> 
> 3\. Includes references to episodes 148, 150, 172, 189 and 202-203 of "Running Man."

_But it’s your image burnt into my mind_  
 _And again will I find_  
 _That it’s worth the climb_  
 _And my love is right on time  
_ — _Our Love Comes Back_ , James Blake

 

 

“The thing with you is,” Gil starts. “You have too much heart.”

Gary just nods at that, staring at a mug of caramel macchiato in his grasp. 

“Not that I’m complaining. It keeps you writing songs, and look how much money they make!” Gil continues, snickering. “I’m just saying, it can be risky sometimes.”

Gary stays silent, and sips from his mug. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he thinks.

 

***

 

The first time he comes inside her, it happens in the bedroom of his apartment.

A gentleman never kisses and tells, they say. But he’s never a gentleman to begin with.

Here’s the thing:

She’s lying on his bed, and he’s thrusting and groaning on top of her. He can feel it all coming to an end too, and he growls in frustration, not wanting it to finish anytime soon. Because yes, let’s just be honest here: he’s scared that this will be the first and last time. 

One more thing: she’s loud, in a way that arouses him and makes him want to go deeper with every pump. And as much as it excited him at first, it really doesn’t help his case now.

He tries to focus on his right hand instead, at the way the strands of her hair get tangled between his fingers. He tugs at them gently and his palm brushes against his wrinkled sheet as he does so.

The sheet. Somehow he remembers that he hasn’t changed it since more than a week ago. He wonders if she would notice.

Well, in his own defense, it’s not like he’s been expecting her.

 

 

(Here’s how it started:

A knock.

Ji Hyo appeared behind the door when he opened it. A box of pizza in her hands. Her clothes were the same as this morning, when they shot the opening segment for the show. It’s been raining and the outline of her bra straps materialized under her damp shirt. 

He let her in. 

Some pleasantries being exchanged. _“Kang Gary, did you just get out of the shower?” “Yeah. Why?” “Didn’t you use a towel? You’re soaking wet.” “I thought you like it when I’m all wet?”_ At this, she rolled her eyes.

Then some more. _“Got you an extra box of pizza!” “Whoa! Thanks! What’s the occasion?”_ A shrug of her shoulders. _“A token of thanks, I guess. For listening, for the crazy advices which somehow worked. For that silly song you made up today. You’ve been really kind to me. Especially with the, you know— Breakup thing.” “Ah. We all have, though. You know your oppas care about you very much.” “Well, yeah. But you’re just— You’re different. You always know what to say.” “Well, I’m sort of an expert in talking about exes. I mean, you should hear my songs!”_

A soft laugh. _“See? You— You make me laugh.”_

A step forward. Another. Another, and she was suddenly breathing on his throat. A beat later and her arms were around his shoulders; her forehead buried in the crook of his neck. _“Thank you.”_

He swallowed. He tried to think too; to make sense of this, of her breath on his skin. And he tried to think, and _fuck that_ , and his arms wrapped themselves around her waist. _Your move_ , they seemed to say. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact time when this started to become a game to them. Their whole relationship is a mission of some sort; it has been for three and a half years. He’s on an endless quest for clue cards, scouring them for helpful hints.

But as usual, it was Ji Hyo who ran headfirst into the finish line. She took a whiff of him, then, and gave a little hum. _“Maybe I do like it when you’re all wet.”_

She lifted her head; only just. And just when Gary was wondering what he was supposed to do next, the tip of her nose sneaked its way underneath his ear. It moved slowly then, resolutely tracing his jaw line, before finally landing on his chin. 

Then it just happened.

He wasn’t sure who leaned in first, but his lips must have met hers halfway. 

There was one thing he was certain of: she opened her mouth first. He slipped his tongue inside with no delay; he was never the one to throw away an opportunity, after all.

He wanted to say things; a lot of things. Like the fact that he was hoping this wouldn’t be just a one-time thing, that he wanted more than just one night. He wanted more, because this was her, not another face he met in a nightclub. He was always a romantic—a hopeless one at that—after all. 

Then again, she was always the braver one, and he was wary of sentimentality and consequences. He grabbed the back of her head instead, holding it still to deepen the kiss.

She, on the other hand, had something to say, although more to herself rather than him. _“It’s been a while,”_ she managed between kisses. 

He shoved her lightly toward his bedroom).

 

 

His lips drop to her left breast now, marking her skin with a trail of kisses, stopping only when they find her nipple. He lets his tongue swirl around it first, pausing to listen to the quiet whimper she makes, before he finally nibbles on her nipple. She squirms under him.

He, too, feels himself going fast, too fast with nothing to hold him back. There’s a sudden surge of panic building inside him and his right thumb slides down her stomach almost desperately. 

 

 

(They got undressed nearly at the same time. She was already sitting on the edge of his bed, in nothing but her underwear, when he slid his shorts and briefs down his ankles. He peeked down and _oh god_ , he was so hard. He kicked his shorts and briefs away, and threw himself on the bed, pushing her along with him. 

It was almost embarrassing, the way he just stared at her and then muttered under his breath, _“So slim.”_ She smirked at that, snaking her legs around his waist at the same time. The movement shook him a bit, causing his cock to graze her inner thigh, and a groan escaped out of him. 

His lips found hers again and his tongue was quick to twist itself around hers. His left hand somehow fumbled its way underneath her, spreading itself along her back. He let out a half-smile when his fingers discovered the clasp of her bra and, with a snap, unhooked it. His right palm began to travel down her bare torso, and his thumb brushed past the skin above her hip bone. 

She gasped.

Gary couldn’t help but grin. There are layers of walls around Ji Hyo, and he’s been tirelessly craning his neck, hoping to catch a glimpse inside. And even now, as she lay almost clotheless under him, there were things he still couldn’t uncover. But at least now he knew what could get her going.

He rubbed at it again, and her hands were suddenly on his shoulder blades, clawing at them with such intensity, as if she was trying to keep herself from falling. And that was all it took.

He yanked down her panties).

 

 

Gary has never been as clueless as most people suspect, and right now he’s making use of what he learned: he slides his hand down her skin until it stumbles against that spot—lower stomach, above hip bone—and draws a circle around it with his thumb.

There’s a loud cry coming from her, and he tries to memorize the way she clenches her jaw and flutters her eyes when she finally comes. She’s bucking her hips violently too, raising them up to meet his and pressing them against his. Her fingers are in his hair, seizing the strands, like she’s trying to hang on to him that way.

His head falls to her shoulder bone, allowing her moans to echo in his ear more clearly. His mouth chews on the skin that wraps around it, and the idea of him leaving teeth marks on her—the word “Mine!” repeating itself inside his head—somehow drives him over the edge, making him ride faster, faster, faster. He reaches for her ass to cup it, and then comes so hard inside of her.

And his ears are ringing all of a sudden. The dim lights of his bedroom become too bright, compelling him to close his eyes. He still can’t hear a thing but he thinks someone is shrieking out her name.

“Ji Hyo-yah.”

It’s probably him. 

He lies next to her afterward. His heavy breathing seems to match hers, and he watches silently as her breasts rise and sink with every intake and outtake of air. Their legs are still entwined together, yet none of them seem to care. He still can’t make sense of everything but he’s itching to talk. Because conversation would lend some weight, somehow. It’s probably the lyricist in him that yearns to plant a meaning into every sentence.

Gary shuts his eyes again instead and thinks about one particular night a few weeks previously. (About a game involving a candy stick. About his bottom lip touching hers. About him following her to the changing room at the end of filming. _“What!?”_ she asked him then, almost accusingly. She was still dressed in her princess getup, and he in the foolish soldier’s tracksuit. _“Nothing,”_ he told her. _“I just want you to know that you looked like a real princess today.”_ She merely blinked).

He must have dozed off for a while because the next thing he sees when he opens his eyes is Ji Hyo sitting on the mattress, still naked except for her bra. Seeing the arch of her back jerks him awake, and he’s suddenly beside her; his arm circles her waist as he draws her toward him. 

So much for trying not to be sentimental; words seem to flow out of his mouth with such ease, they make him cringe. “Can we meet again tomorrow?”

She looks down at her thighs, sweeping hair out of her face. “I have an earlier call time tomorrow,” she sighs, and glances at the alarm clock on his bedside table. “Today, actually,” she continues. But that’s not what he’s asking.

“Can we meet again tomorrow?” he blurts out, again. “Tonight?” He pulls her even closer too, carefully turning her body in his direction.

She’s facing him now, staring down at his mouth. Her position is awkward, and she’s shifting around to be more comfortable. Her left palm somehow ends up on his chest in the process, while her right hand winds itself around his neck for support. Her fingertips are dancing over his skin as she bites her lip. And he waits.

She takes a deep breath, then. She finally looks back at him too, and—oddly enough, considering what both of them just did—he blushes. “Okay,” she says.

And, like an idiot, Gary smiles.

 

***

 

The fourth time they spend a night together, it happens in the bedroom of his apartment. And he’s annoyed.

It wouldn’t be the first time she tricked him so she could win the game. It’s just that he thought things would be somewhat different— Anyway, he’s aware that things should remain the same in front of the camera, obviously. Doesn’t mean he can stop being annoyed, though.

And yet, when she shows up at his door, he welcomes her in easily.

She reads him like a book. “What!?” she chuckles. “Are you still mad?” Ji Hyo giggles when he only scowls. “Come on,” she says. “What did you expect me to do? Not put that black stamp on your neck? Have you cleaned it, by the way? Let me see.”

And she’s suddenly in front of him, batting her eyelashes as she curls her fingers around the back of his neck. When she pulls his head toward hers, he doesn’t try to back away.

She kisses him.

He doesn’t even remember opening his mouth, but her tongue has somehow found his, coiling around his.

He puts his hands on her hips and brings them closer to his crotch, letting her feel the bulge growing inside his shorts, telling her how much he wants her. His nails scrape against the coarse fabric of her jeans, and he’s reminded of the leather pants she wore this morning. When he found her in a studio, singing his song. His song.

“You make me hard,” he cries out. Great! Now he starts spewing out his own lyrics.

But she just laughs at that. Her hand traces a path down along his stomach until it finds the waistband of his shorts. She starts tugging at it, pushing it down, using her point finger to toy with his happy trail.

Well, now he knows she wasn’t playing tricks on him when she said he made her laugh.

He catches her hand, and shoves it inside his underwear.

 

***

 

“I wrote a song about you,” he lies.

“Hmm?”

“I wrote a couple of songs about you,” he says, finally.

She takes a breath at that, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes are drifting to somewhere next to his left, blinking at the empty wall behind him. The air hangs heavy, and he swallows in anticipation. 

If there’s one thing he learns from all the nights he’s spent with Ji Hyo is to manage his expectations. 

She caresses the tattoo on his chest. “Oh, Oppa,” she says, and speaks nothing else.

 

***

 

The –--th time they spend a night together (he’s lost count), it happens in the bedroom of her apartment. 

He no longer treads carefully around her; by this time, he could just come to her place, pull off her shirt while crossing her threshold, and take her then and there (which he did once). Somehow, this excites and shocks her in equal measure. 

(Once, after he ripped her t-shirt off, she did nothing but gape at him, like she just saw him with a new set of eyes. But then the end of her mouth crooked into a grin and she sucked on his lower lip so hard, it made him tear up).

Right now, they’re kissing on her bed. She’s holding on to his shoulders and she keeps pushing him back—not very far—to whisper to him, “I have this thing tomorrow morning.” They kiss. “Filming.” They kiss. “I have to wake up early.” But she doesn’t try to stop him when his fingers start undoing the buttons of her pajama.

“What to do?” she mutters to herself, and kisses him back. 

There’s a tug, a pull and everything in between, and all of their clothes are suddenly on her floor. He finds himself grinding against her, on top of her. He wraps his hand around his cock then, and enters her smoothly.

"You like it?” he asks, as he thrusts and thrusts forward.

“Yes,” she breathes against his mouth. “Yes.”

 

***

 

Blame it on his knack for being reckless. Or maybe he’s just glad to be out of town. Or maybe he’s just happy that there’s another couple that the producers can focus on; that he and Ji Hyo can stay in the background, while the guys are too busy playing matchmakers to the pretty idol and the baseball star.

Gary makes sure there’s no camera near him and grabs Ji Hyo’s wrist. She whips around and shoots him a stare, but says nothing as she takes her place beside him and walks by his side.

He looks at his toes and smiles. And he doesn’t mind, he thinks; he doesn’t mind doing this for as long as it takes. For the rest of their lives. To the end of days.

But Jae Suk hyung spots them, and he sighs.

Danger seems to thrill her, though. It’s nighttime now, and Jae Suk hyung, Ha Ha and their guest are away; buying ingredients, they say. But they’re taking too much time, the air is cold and people are beginning to get restless. Someone hisses something behind the camera, and the producers finally give in, telling the whole crew to have dinner first.

It never ceases to amaze Gary how, even when the cameras are off, his friends are just the way they are. Jong Kook hyung nags and Kwang Soo doesn’t even bother, sprinting toward his VJ to try to steal his ramyun cup. Suk Jin hyung follows him, complaining as he strolls. And Ji Hyo is typically kind, sitting next to their confused lady guest and rolling her eyes at the men. 

They’re shooting at a front lawn of a house and the autumn wind is blowing mercilessly, slithering its way between the seams of their jackets to rattle their bones. Gary’s stomach rumbles, and he thinks of joining Kwang Soo as he tries to gnaw at a cookie or snatch a pinch of kimchi. He could really use a soju too. But Gary stalks away toward the empty house. 

The lamps are unlit inside and, as soon as Gary slides the door close behind him, he’s completely shrouded in shadows. He tiptoes through the darkness, letting his eyes adjust to the lack of light in the meanwhile. He extends his right hand to the side and pokes at the wall, shuddering at the iciness as it seeps into the tips of his fingers. 

There’s a sudden streak of light and Gary stops in his track, leaning his back on the wall. He hears a muted noise, like something being dragged carefully—the door! It’s the door!—and it’s all black again. 

“Kang Gary?”

He lets out a breath.

“Here.”

He listens as Ji Hyo staggers toward the direction of his voice. Her feet keep bumping against furniture, and she has to stifle a laugh every time.

“You’re unbelievable,” he tells her.

He feels her light touch on his left arm, then. She chuckles at that, squeezing his arm before flinging her other hand to his shoulder to come face to face with him. He can make out her silhouette now, and he looks down to hold her waist, pulling her into him. He still can’t see her clearly but her warm breath on his nose is telling already, and he leans in, gliding his tongue against her lips before slipping it inside her mouth.

Her lips are cold, and he gives a little shiver as he kisses her. Her hands move to stroke the short stubble that settles on his cheeks as she pushes him against the wall, deepening the kiss. He runs his tongue over the roof of her mouth, and the sensation makes her giggle against his lips.

But someone is laughing outside; the sound unfurls all around the lawn and leaks through the tiny cracks of the house, drilling through the silence. They break the kiss in a hurry.

There’s another laugh—a girl’s—and both of them freeze in place, listening, waiting.

“Did you leave Suzy alone out there?” he murmurs.

She huffs. “She’s a big girl,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “Why? Are you worried about her?”

Gary raises his eyebrows. “Why? Are you jealous?”

He would do anything just to be able to see her face right now. But Ji Hyo never answers him, pressing her lips against his instead. He’s more than happy to reciprocate, letting his question dangle in the air.

And it’s suddenly too cold, and she’s laying her hands on his chest, wringing his collar, pushing him harder against the wall. His fingers are everywhere; around her waist, along her back, in her hair. His jeans are getting too tight all of a sudden, and there are too many fabrics between them, and he needs them off right away, but people are shouting outside.

And he’s thinking, he’s going to stay in here for one more minute. Just one more minute. Gary moves his left feet forward then, placing his thigh between her legs, and he lets out a low grunt when she starts riding it frantically.

They don’t have sex, though. _That_ would be unprofessional.

 

***

 

The next time they meet in the dark, it happens in his temporary bedroom in a beach house in Australia. On his birthday.

 

 

(Ji Hyo had toured the boys’ house earlier in the afternoon, after they returned from the museum. She was all pale and baggy-eyed, but she still nodded along at Kwang Soo as he chattered away.

 _“Gary hyung sleeps here,”_ Kwang Soo said when they passed the bedroom.

 _“Ji Hyo yah,”_ Ha Ha interrupted. _“Gary hyung sleeps alone,”_ he added, snickering.

She scoffed at that, shaking her head as she did so. _“That’s because he sleeps naked,”_ Kwang Soo continued).

 

 

Ji Hyo returns to the house at night, joining the others as they begin the birthday party. His birthday party. He never even asks for it, but somebody is bringing beer crates from god knows where, while the others are urging him to blow a few candles on a square-shaped cake, and the party is suddenly starting. He indulges them gladly; he wants a couple of beers, anyway.

Besides, the racket his friends are making help to conceal his growl and moans as Ji Hyo sucks on his cock.

 

 

(He followed Ji Hyo inside his room after waiting for a few minutes. Perhaps a few minutes too long, because Ji Hyo clasped his arms as soon as he closed the door, and directed him to stand in front of one of the walls hastily. He let her fingers work impulsively on the button and zipper of his jeans before she pushed them along with his underwear down his legs, kneeling down in front of him as she did so. She gave his belly a pinch too, just because she could. He glanced down at her and let out a chuckle at that.

She smirked, and took him in her mouth).

 

 

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he says as he clutches her shoulders. She doesn’t reply to that; she can’t even if she wants to.

And he’s getting close.

Gary tips his head back, resting it on the wall behind him, and closes his eyes. He knows he shouldn’t; he should be staying alert, he should be worried. Someone can be looking for him; he’s the birthday boy, remember? Someone can come through the door any second, and they’ll get caught, with his pants pool around his ankles and her lips around his length.

But he just opens his eyes and relaxes his grip on her shoulders. Her hair is a sweaty mess, and he mumbles her name as he tucks a few stray wisps behind her ear.

“Ji Hyo-yah.”

Her hands wrap his ass, then; her nails dig into the flesh as she sucks harder and harder. He lets out a yelp, and comes in her mouth. 

His knees give out suddenly, his pulse pounds in his ears and he has to press his palms against the wall to stop himself from collapsing altogether. He closes his eyes again, knowing very well how stupid it is (someone can be looking for him, someone can come through the door), and breathes noisily through his mouth. 

At one point he notices Ji Hyo has stood up and left, although not very far; the sound of a faucet being turned on lets him know that she’s cleaning herself up in the bathroom. Which somehow reminds Gary of the jeans and underwear that crumple around his feet. He looks at his legs, and sighs when he realizes that they’re still shaking. He bends down nevertheless and pulls his jeans up steadily, leaving the zipper unclosed. 

The faucet is turned once more, and then there are only echoes of shrieks and dance songs as they bang furiously at the door. There’s a brief cough and Ji Hyo surfaces from behind the shadows; the red in her hair turns into an eerie purple when she crosses the spaces where the moonlight falls through the window. She catches his eye and smiles warmly, swaying a little as she tries to stagger toward him. He starts shuffling around too, stumbling through the dark so he can meet her somewhere near the door. 

She pulls up in front of him and takes his hands gently. “Well,” she says in a genial tone. “Happy birthday.” She lets out another smile and leans forward to give him a peck on his lips.

“It’s past midnight, though,” he whispers.

“Hey, we’re in Australia,” she replies, shrugging. “It’s still your birthday somewhere.”

Gary snorts. “Thank you,” he says. And then it just comes out. 

“I love you.”

Outside, someone is being thrown into the swimming pool, people are cheering and the music is still vibrating, but the loudness doesn’t really hide Ji Hyo’s quiet gasp. And his shoulders slouch slightly when her fingers let go of his. 

Gary drops his jaw, willing for something appropriate to roll out of his tongue. There are excuses he can invent; a fabricated laugh, perhaps. Some jokes, maybe; he’s usually good at making them.

But it’s still his birthday somewhere. And there were candles on a cake, and he made a wish.

So he just swallows instead.

Ji Hyo takes a step back. She turns around too, reaching for the door knob. The light—it’s too bright!—from the hallway cuts into the bedroom when she opens the door slowly. Gary stares at her back as she pauses to peek out and, with one swift move, inches out of the room.

The door clicks shut after her.

 

***

 

There’s a big meeting between the cast and producers. It’s scheduled twice a month and it’s nothing unusual.

But Kwang Soo is, even more so than usual, fidgety.

His hand goes up all of a sudden.

“Yeah. I just want to inform everyone that—” Kwang Soo announces, his voice cracking. His eyes flick over to Ji Hyo’s direction. “That Joo Ji Hoon-ssi will be guesting in a few weeks,” he finishes finally, cackling at his own words.

Ji Hyo grabs one of the pens scattered on the desk and tosses it at Kwang Soo. The others just laugh.

Gary steals a glance at Ji Hyo and watches in silence as she heaves a sigh.

 

***

 

They’ve all been to this resort before. Well, the cast and crew have; he’s not sure about the guests, though. 

This time, Gary is rooming with Ha Ha. He had put his arm around Gary earlier in the night, when the two were told that they were going to be roommates. “Just like old times, hyung,” Ha Ha had said. 

But Ha Ha didn’t have a wife and a kid in the old times. And, as Ha Ha leaves their room to go downstairs so he can have a private phone call with Byul, Gary thinks about people; how they stay constant and change at the same time. 

“I’ll be back in time for that thing,” Ha Ha tells him as he dials his phone with his right hand and closes the door with his left. 

Right. That thing.

Ha Ha made the members promise to meet in his and Gary’s room just before midnight to “catch up.” But Gary has his suspicions: Ji Hyo. Having an ex-boyfriend as a guest on the show must result in a certain form of feeling, one way or another. And Ha Ha will not sleep until she can lay it all—at least as much as she’s willing to share; he’s too scared of her to gouge too much truth out, anyway—on the table. 

(Ji Hyo had taken a deep breath when Ha Ha suggested the meet up; she was never completely oblivious after all. Gary looked at her, surprising himself when she suddenly turned to meet his gaze. She pursed her lips, and Gary let out a muffled snigger at that).

But the bell rings, and he finds Ji Hyo behind the door.

She’s early and Gary gestures for her to come in before heading straight toward the pantry, looking at a box of expensive tea bags. From somewhere behind him, he can hear the sound of the door being closed by Ji Hyo and feel the swish of the carpet as she drags her sandals across the fabric.

“Can I offer you anything?” he asks over his shoulder. “We have the exact same thing you have in your room.”

He scans the pantry again, perching his hands on his hips. Ji Hyo doesn’t answer him; he does sense her presence hovering behind him, though, so he figures she’s listening.

“I can just—,” he starts again, and fails to complete it. Instead, he stops to gasp as Ji Hyo circles her arms around his waist and hugs him from the back, hooking her chin in the crook of his neck.

There’s a vulnerable quality in her action as she spoons him a little, prompting Gary to swallow hesitantly. “For a second, I forgot you’re here and thought you were Ha Ha,” he mumbles, because jokes are easier.

Ji Hyo scoffs in his ear. “You do this with Ha Ha oppa too?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says. “You’re not supposed to know that.”

She giggles at that, but replies nothing. Her arms loosen around him instead; her left hand grazes the front of his t-shirt and moves to skim his lower back before it stumbles upon his right wrist. She’s buying her time, meticulously brushing her fingers over his knuckles, rubbing them against his opened palm, using them to map out the bricks on his skin before finally linking them with his. 

Ji Hyo takes a step sideway so she can face him, and says, “I’m sorry.”

Gary knits his eyebrows. “What for?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know,” she breathes. “I feel like— I haven’t been—” She lingers at that, licking her lips all the while. “You know I’m not really good with words, right? Can I say something to you? But don’t say anything before I finish.”

He nods cautiously. “Sure.”

She sighs out loud. “I mean, this morning, I saw someone from my past for the first time in years, and I just—,” she says, moving her free hand instinctively to touch her hair. “It makes me think of people I’ve known, people who have treated me bad. And it’s not necessarily _him_. It’s just— Some people, you know?”

Gary blinks, and waits. 

“And sometime today, I just realized something. It just hit me,” she continues. She’s been staring at the ceiling since she started talking, but at this, she looks at him; her eyes grow wide and the ends of her mouth faintly turn upward. “You’re not one of them. You, you— You’ve been good to me. You’re good.”

His heart beats just a little bit faster then, and he shifts his weight anxiously.

“Thank you,” she says. “For treating me well.” She tightens her grip around his hand. “And I guess what I want to say is I would like to return the favor,” she continues. “I can’t— I’m not you, I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve or whatever. I can’t just blurt out I-love-yous anytime, but—” She blows air out through her mouth, and resumes, “I want to be a good girlfriend for you. If you’ll have me.”

When he offers her nothing, she adds meekly, “I’m done.”

Gary shakes with laughter at that, at the fact she just said “girlfriend” for the first time. Something intangible yet existent seems to swell in his chest, heating his insides. A consuming fire, burning him wholly. But it’s the kind that you don’t run away from; the kind you seek instead. A fireplace in a winter morning.

“If I’ll have you?” he asks finally, and laughs some more. His left hand searches for her right one too, and their fingers weave around each other once they meet. 

He kisses her lips.

And that’s an answer definite enough for her. Ji Hyo beams at him, excitedly drawing her hands out of his grasp to hug him once more. Her palms are pressed against his shoulder blades, and her nose is at his neck, taking him in. He gives a throaty chuckle and holds her head in his palm, stroking her hair, knotting his fingers around a lock of tendrils. 

They stay like that for some time, and Gary almost forgets about the meet up until he hears the buzzing of familiar voices coming from the other side of the door. Something beeps, and he realizes Ha Ha must have ended his phone call, and he’s now opened the door for the others.

Gary whispers against her cheek. “They’re going to find out,” he says. 

But Ji Hyo just squeezes him harder. “Let them.”

 

***

 

He’s still getting used to this, being interviewed alone. He still gets nervous, but he wouldn’t be him if he didn’t try to soldier on. And so here he is, marching on. 

It’s not like he’s never heard of the questions before.

“What inspires your songs?” the reporter asks him.

Gary clears his throat. “My heart,” he answers in English, and the reporter bursts out laughing at his accent. “A friend once told me that I had too much of it, and that it would be risky.”

He pauses, and smiles.

“But I think it has been worth it.”

 

 

 

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Can't find the link to the article right now, but Ji Hyo did buy boxes and boxes of pizza to the starving and rain-splattered crew while filming episode 148.
> 
> 2\. Joo Ji Hoon starred with Kwang Soo in the movie "Good Friends."


End file.
